What's 'invisible baldness'? 6 warning signs you may be at risk

A typical healthy scalp has about 100,000 hairs — and you can lose up to 50,000 of them without noticing any hair loss, Dr. Jerry Shapiro told Fox News. Shapiro is a professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology and director of Hair and Scalp Disorders at NYU Langone Medical Center.

It’s called invisible baldness: thinning hair that essentially goes unnoticed until you hit that 50 percent mark. If you feel like you may be at risk, see a dermatologist to figure out what the root cause of your hair loss may be, considering many different underlying conditions could cause hair thinning, Shapiro said.

You could also use a device called HairCheck to measure cross-sectional bundles of hair on the scalp, Dr. Alan J. Bauman, a board-certified hair restoration physician based in Boca Raton, Florida, told Fox News. By tracking the amount of hair in specific locations over time — or comparing them to other areas of the scalp — you can figure out just how much hair you’re losing.

But how do you know if you may be experiencing invisible baldness, and should make an appointment with a physician? Fox News spoke to Bauman and Shapiro about the potential signs to watch out for:

1. A change in hair textureIf you notice a change in hair texture, such as if your hair feels thinner or lighter, you may be experiencing some hair loss, Bauman said.

2. A thinning ponytailSimilarly, for women, a thinning ponytail can be a sign of hair loss — for instance, if a woman finds she can twist her elastic around her hair many more times than she’s used to, Shapiro said.